There He Was
by secretlyexistant
Summary: PG Mild Language Russia/America/England, Human College AU A gift for a friend by her request (may become multiple chapters)


There he was, just down the hall. Alfred felt his heart skip a beat, as he watched the tallest man in the crowd step out of the classroom, his long pink scarf covering most of his face. Alfred didn't even bother hiding his giant smile. Ever since he'd been accepted into the same college as his older brother, Arthur, he had been excited because it meant that he could also be close to his brother's Russian friend, Ivan.

Arthur had first invited him over so they could cram for an exam that was coming up and after Ivan looked up from his books and smiled at him, Alfred only wanted to be around him. Alfred had always had a thing for older guys, especially when they were taller than him, which was a rarity because Alfred was taller than almost everyone, especially Arthur. And then there was the fact that Ivan was such a gentle giant. He was hulking almost to the point of being intimidating but he had the sweetest face and his smile. Christ.

He was so busy day dreaming that he almost missed him walking right past. "Whoa-uh, hey!" Alfred snapped himself out of it and caught up quickly to Ivan's side. "Hi there, um, how was class?" Dammit, he was stammering again.

"Hmm? Oh, it was… fine. Notes mostly." Ivan replied. He sounded uninterested. Was he uninterested? Or was he just in a hurry?

Nah, I'm just over thinking, Alfred quickly concluded to himself. "So, uh, where are you going now?" He already knew, but he wanted to make the conversation last for as long as possible.

"Next class." Ivan replied again, more quickly than last time.

"Oh, that's cool. So, uh, do you think you and Art might study together again? The midterms coming up and all."

"We take different classes." Ivan smirked amusingly this time. I got him to smile! Alfred had to keep himself from beaming.

They made it to Ivan's second class before he could say anything else. "I'll see you later." Ivan said as he ducked into the classroom, leaving Alfred out in the hall as it began to empty.

The other students around them moved on to other classes, home, or lunch. "Bye," he muttered to himself and then smiled like a complete dork. "Got him to smile~" he squeaked happily to himself and then half skipped to his next class. He was late enough as it was.

Oh no, there he was. Ivan looked down the hall and there he was, Arthur's little brother, Alfred. He frowned a little behind his scarf. Ever since the boy got accepted into the same school as him and Arthur he was a like a shadow to him. Ivan couldn't possibly understand why, but every school day Alfred had managed to find out which class rooms he was in and waited for him in the hall. Sure it was nice company at first, but now… he was just making himself late.

He tried walking past, since Alfred seemed to be in a trance, but he snapped out of it and followed him quickly. Ivan wanted to ignore him, but he knew that if he did he would get a scolding from Arthur.

"—How was class?" was all he managed to hear, as he actually started to listen to him.

"Hmm? Oh, it was fine… notes mostly." Ugh, why was this so awkward? Simple conversations still weren't really Ivan's strong point. He was way too incredibly shy at the beginning of the year and things were still not so great. He had hoped that he wasn't coming off as uninterested in the conversation.

"Where are you going now?" Oh, he was still talking.

"Next class." He replied quickly, although he hoped not too quickly. Alfred carried on, this time something about studying with him and Arthur for midterms. But, he was a freshman and they were sophomores, they weren't taking the same midterms. That would be silly.

Ivan smiled at the amusing thought. "We take different classes." Suddenly, Alfred lit up. . Why? That was so strange. Did he… like that they were in different classes? Now it was awkward again, but at least this time he was finally at his second class. "I'll see you later." Ivan quickly said while ducking into his next class.

He was relieved to be away from Alfred now, before the conversation took a rude turn. Not that he wanted it to, he just knew that it would end up coming off that way.

He looked up and smiled at the familiar face smiling back at him. He sat behind Arthur in his usual spot in the back of the room. He didn't like having to be far back in the class, but he had to, otherwise he was bound to block someone's view of the board in the front because of his height. In the past that meant he would be all alone in the back of the room, but as of last year Arthur had fixed all of that.

"Did you get the assignment for last night done?" Arthur turned and asked him after he sat down.

Ivan smiled and held up the folder he was holding. "I remembered this time, thanks to someone's persistent texts last night."

Arthur chuckled. "I knew that you would forget if I didn't get you to do it." And he turned back to face the front of the room as the professor walked in and started the class. Ivan listened to the lecture for the rest of the class, staring at the back of Arthur's head. I got him to laugh, Ivan thought with a smile. His laugh was all that was needed to make the rest of the class a delight.

Ah, there he was. Arthur, always the first one in the classroom, looked up at the door as the rest of the students piled in. He used to arrive early because he wanted to get any possible notes that the professor may write on the board before any of the other students got there, and he also felt that it got him on the professor's good side. But after meeting Ivan, he liked the opportunity to save his classmate and friend a seat. A lot of the other students would take all the seats in the back to avoid being called on, and that provided a problem for Ivan since he was so tall. Arthur always saved him the one in the far back, right behind his.

He moved his bag out of the seat as Ivan came over. "Did you get the assignment for last night done?" he asked him with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. Ivan always forgot the homework assignments and Arthur couldn't stand for that. If you were going to be friends with this gentleman then you couldn't be a delinquent of any sort, or at least that's how Arthur thought about it.

Ivan held up his folder. "I remembered this time, thanks to someone's persistent texts last night," Ivan said with a smile and a tone of amused annoyance.

Arthur chuckled a bit, almost apologetically. "I knew that you would forget if I didn't get you to do it." He turned back in his seat to the front of the room as the professor came in and started the first lecture of the class. But Arthur wasn't paying attention. His thoughts were on last night.

It was true that he had been persistently texting Ivan last night, and it was true that the topic of each text was the assignment, but that wasn't the only reason why he had texted Ivan so much. He just wanted to hear from him. About anything. He wanted to be able to look down at the phone and see Ivan's contact name and number on the screen. He felt giddy just hearing the ring tone. They could be discussing one of the most boring schoolwork topics ever for all he cared. . But now he was worried. All those texts he sent were pretty persistent. Did he come off as annoying to Ivan? Was he just bothering him rather than helping? Or… God forbid, was he coming off as desperate for attention? He kept thinking about it and dwelling on it and ended up completely tuning out the words of the professor and the feeling of eyes on the back of his head. He really hoped that he wasn't bothering Ivan. Ivan was the last person in the world he wanted to drive away. He was lacking in friends enough as it was, it would be dreadful if he drove away the only person to put up with him in the class where they did those ridiculous partner projects. Not only that, but it would be even worse if he drove away the one person he's ever had feelings for. Next time, maybe less than 10 texts in just 5 minutes, Arthur decided for himself. He scribbled down notes for the rest of the class, wondering how he should go about maybe… just, maybe… admitting it to Ivan.


End file.
